Latest construction news, news releases, and information relating to tradeswomen in the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. Plus news on minority and women owned contractors, EEO, OFCCP, and Affirmative Action relating to the construction industry.

Friday, February 26, 2010

The official website for the 2010 UBC Women's Conference is ubcsisters.org

Women’s Conference to Celebrate ‘Breaking New Ground’

All female UBC members are invited to the 2010 Sisters in the Brotherhood conference, June 17 – 20, at the International Training Center in Las Vegas.

With ‘Breaking New Ground’ as its theme, the conference will be a chance for UBC women to share their own experiences while learning about the union’s groundbreaking work in organizing, political action, training and cultivating new leaders.

Conference co-chairs are UBC Representatives JoAnn Williams of the St. Louis Missouri District Council, and Liz Skidmore of the New England Regional Council.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National Women's History Month's roots go back to March 8, 1857, when women from New York City factories staged a protest over working conditions. International Women's Day was first observed in 1909, but it wasn't until 1981 that Congress established National Women's History Week to be commemorated the second week of March. In 1987, Congress expanded the week to a month. Every year since, Congress has passed a resolution for Women's History Month, and the President has issued a proclamation.

The ratio of women's-to-men's earnings in the District of Columbia in 2008, among the highest of any state or state equivalent in the nation along with California, Arizona, Maryland, New York, Vermont, Georgia and Hawaii.

Number of women 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or more education in 2008, higher than the corresponding number for men (28.4 million). Women had a larger share of high school diplomas, as well as associate, bachelor's and master's degrees. More men than women had a professional or doctoral degree.

Revenue for women-owned businesses in 2002. There were 116,985 women-owned businesses with receipts of $1 million or more.

Nearly 6.5 million

The number of women-owned businesses in 2002. Women owned 28 percent of all non-farm businesses; 916,657 of these were employer firms.

More than 7.1 million

Number of people employed by women-owned businesses. There were 7,231 women-owned businesses with 100 or more employees, generating $274 billion in gross receipts.

Nearly one in three women-owned businesses operated in health care and social assistance, and other services, such as personal services, and repair and maintenance. Women owned 72 percent of social assistance businesses and just over half of nursing and residential care facilities. Wholesale and retail trade accounted for 38 percent of women-owned business revenue.

13%

Percentage of women-owned businesses in California, which had the most women-owned businesses at 870,496. New York was second with 505,077 or 8 percent of all women-owned businesses. Texas was third in number with 468,705, accounting for 7 percent of all women-owned businesses.

Note: The 2007 Preliminary Estimates of Business Ownership by Gender, Ethnicity, and Race will be available in July 2010 and the more detailed 2007 Women-Owned Businesses report will be published in December 2010.

Voting

66%

Percentage of female citizens 18 and older who reported voting in the 2008 Presidential election. Sixty-two percent of their male counterparts cast a ballot. Additionally, 73 percent of female citizens reported being registered to vote.

Number of female workers in educational services, health care and social assistance industries. More women worked in this industry group than in any other. Within this industry group, 11.9 million worked in the health care industry, 9.1 million in educational services and 2.7 million worked in the social assistance industry.

Number of female police officers across the country in 2008. In addition, there were about 14,000 women firefighters, 349,000 lawyers, 267,000 physicians and surgeons, and 36,000 pilots. (Note: Number of pilots pertains to 2007.)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, as cited in the Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2010, Tables 603 and 1047http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/

Military

197,900

Total number of active duty women in the military, as of Sept. 30, 2008. Of that total, 34,300 women were officers, and 163,600 were enlisted.

Editor's note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Facts for Features are customarily released about two months before an observance in order to accommodate magazine production timelines. For any information cited for the Statistical Abstract, users should check with the originating organization to see whether the data presented here have been superseded by more recent data. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau's Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; fax: 301-763-3762; or e-mail: pio@census.gov.

Here’s how to look good on a girder 30 stories up

BY CLAIRE GLASS

for The Brooklyn Paper

Forget about skinny jeans and high heels, pink power tools are the new black.

Answering the call of tradeswomen who are sick of gloves that don’t fit, reflective vests that sag, and the abject lack of work boots designed for the feminine physique, longtime construction worker Deidre Douglas opened Woman Up, a work-wear store on Washington Avenue in Prospect Heights.

“I have customers as far as California because no one wants to wear stuff that doesn’t fit,” said Douglas, herself a construction worker for a decade. “Women come here for the boots and the gloves and they all tell me how happy they are that I’m here.”

Though the store has been open for a year, Douglas has moved beyond the apparel problem. Next up is a line of pink power tools that are strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.

Her clients aren’t all construction workers. Transit workers, letter carriers, and dockworkers also frequent her store, she said — all with one thing in common.

“We wear boots, not suits,” Douglas said.

Woman Up is not all about pink hues, frills on hardhats or petite sizes. But it is about not losing your femininity even when you’re on a girder 30 stories up.

As such, the store offers a line of sweat-absorbing supportive underwear. Think Hanes Her Way with extra support to straighten spines, lift breasts, regulate body temperature, and generally improves figures while you work.

Men are welcome, certainly. The other day, a United Parcel Service driver stopped by and bought a pair of work gloves because his hands are small for his sex, Douglas said.

He wasn’t the only exception, but Douglas mostly caters to women, including selling nutritional supplements and skin and bath products.

“Because after you stop working you still want to come home and feel like a woman,” she said.

Woman Up [708 Washington Ave. between St. Marks Avenue and Prospect Place in Prospect Heights, (347) 750-6836].

The Labor/Management Workplace Education Program, Carpenters Local 108, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 7 and other organized labor groups received $180,000 in federal stimulus money recently to start the program. It's part of $1 million in federal stimulus money the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development gave to six construction-trade training programs around the state.

SPRINGFIELD - Classes in a "green" building trades program run by UMass, area labor unions and contractors, won't begin for months, but organizers already have jobs or slots in more advanced apprenticeship programs lined up for 19 graduates.

"Our joint apprenticeship partners are optimistic," said Joseph F. Connolly, director of the Labor/Management Workplace Education Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

If the Springfield training goes well, Connolly said the Workplace Education Program would like to expand it to Holyoke, Amherst, Greenfield, Pittsfield and Northampton.

The Labor/Management Workplace Education Program, Carpenters Local 108, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 7 and other organized labor groups received $180,000 in federal stimulus money recently to start the program. It's part of $1 million in federal stimulus money the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development gave to six construction-trade training programs around the state. Three of the other five projects are in the Boston area, one is in Fitchburg and another is in Lowell.

Also the state Department of Energy Resources has announced $13 million in federal stimulus funding for 111 cities and towns across the state.

In the Pioneer Valley, Belchertown received a $149,812 grant to make its fire station, Lawrence Memorial Hall and its water-reclamation facility more efficient to heat and cool, according to a news release from the state. Erving will get $81,000 for a similar project at Town Hall. Middlefield received $121,278, Otis received $150,000, Ware $53,137, and Sunderland received $97,000 for similar efficiency projects.

Charlemont, Conway, Deerfield, Gill, Greenfield, Leverett, Montague, Northampton, Palmer and Shelburne all received $150,000 to pay down the cost of performance contracts. Those contracts are those where vendors do energy audits, install money-saving equipment then generally get paid out of the savings, said Lisa Capone, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Energy Resources. With these payments, the towns will be able to keep more of their energy savings in the future, Capone said.

Shutesbury will receive $56,673 for a solar power project at Town Hall. Palmer received $18,722 to install a solar hot-water heater for the offices at the town wastewater treatment plant.

All those projects would be perfect one day for graduates of the UMass program, Connolly said.

"People can go right from this program to a job, or into an apprenticeship program," he said.

Connolly said the program hopes to recruit 24 students, focusing on people with low incomes, minorities and women, in Springfield. He expects that only 19 will graduate, though.

Training will be at various Springfield locations and will be 170 hours over 10 weeks covering everything from basic math to the latest in energy technology.

"For instance we want to bring people up to UMass, there are some great things going on at UMass when it comes to green construction research," he said.

Eduardo Suarez, director of ECHO for Sustainable Development, a nonprofit that is working on the project, said construction workers in these green businesses can expect to earn $13.50 to $25 an hour.

People interested in the training should contact Suarez at (413) 335-6224 or via e-mail director@echosd.org

Job Front: Construction trade scholarships offered

Building a career in the construction trades? Home Depot wants to help.

The Atlanta-based home improvement giant recently rolled out its Trade Scholarship Program, offering $1 million in scholarships to craftspeople receiving training in the building and construction trades.

The scholarships will help pay for students' tuition and tools, said Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes.

The scholarship program, in its second year, comes amid difficult times in the building industry.

"With the economy as it is and budgets the way they are, schools are struggling to find the basic things they need," Holmes said.

The Sacramento area has been especially hard hit by the housing crisis, contributing to a jobless rate above 12 percent.

"Times are tough, but there are skilled tradespeople still out there. There are a lot of contractors who are required to take continuing education. We want to do our part to encourage future tradespeople," Holmes said.

Friday, February 19, 2010

The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum is seeking apprentices who would be willing to be profiled on their website in order to encourage young people to become apprentices and to provide them with information on ways in which to find an employer/sponsor.

We will be profiling 15 – 20 apprentices, so it is possible that not all those who respond will be posted on the website.

Attached is an invitation to participate. We would appreciate it if you could pass it on to apprentices who you feel might be interested. As well if you could post it on the bulletin board of your local’s office and/or training centre that would be very much appreciated.

Thank you for your help with this. If you have any questions, please call Paul Bakker, 1-866-469-9954 x226.

Best Regards,

Jennifer Logan

Cathexis Consulting

124 Merton St., Suite 502Toronto, Ontario M4S 2Z2

Are You Interested in Being Profiled on the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum Website

The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum is looking for apprentices who have been successful in finding an employer sponsor.

We want to hear about:

§What influenced you to apprentice in your trade?

§How did you go about finding an employer?

§What challenges did you face?

§How did you address those challenges?

§What advice would you give young people on how to find an employer sponsor?

We are looking for people from across Canada in any of the Red Seal trades.We also want the profiles to cover the full range of diversity including women, visible minorities, Aboriginal people and people with disabilities.

If you are willing to tell you story and have it profiled on the CAF-FCA website along with sending us a photo of you, please call or email Paul Bakker: